Gameplay as Assessment: Analyzing Event-Stream Player Data and Learning Using GBA (A Game-Based Assessment Model)

Abstract

This extended study (building on pilot research) presents a Game-Based Assessment model (GBA) designed to capture relevant information on play and test whether it can constitute reliable evidence of learning. A central challenge for videogames research in education is to demonstrate evidence of player learning. Assessment designers need to attend to the ways in which gameplay itself can provide a powerful new form of assessment. The GBA model has two key layers which build on content-based educational game design: a semantic template that determines which click-stream data events could be indicators of learning; and learning telemetry that captures data for analysis. This study highlights how the GBA was implemented in a stem-cell science learning game, and shows how the GBA demonstrates a relationship among success, kinds of failure, and learning in the game.